Pipe-line cleaner



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l.

. J. S. KLEIN.

PIPE LINE CLEANER.

N0. 332,910.- Patented Deo. 22,188.5.

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(No Model.) -3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. S. KLEIN.

PIPE LINE CLEANER. No. 332,910. Patented DemZZ, 1885.

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NiTsD. STATES Artnr trice.

JOHN S. KLEIN, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

PIPE-LINE CLEANER.

ESPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,910, dated December 22, 1885.

Serial No.157,978. (No model.)

.To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN S. KLEIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oil City, in the county of Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Line Cleaners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Pipe-lines used for transport-ing fluids beome coated on the inside with sediment or condensatiomth us ini pairing their conducting capacity,and so require cleaning out. Thisis especially-true of pipe-lines for conducting crude petroleum, as the deposit of paraftine is very great, especially in cold weather.

The object of my invention is to provide a device which can be sent through the line of pipe with the iiuid, and as it passes will scrape and clean off the inside of the pipe.

Devices for this purpose have been heretofore constructed, and therefore my invention consists in improvements upon the construction of such a device.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as follows Figure 1 is a sidel elevation of the device complete. Fig. 2 is a View, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the device, with a section of it broken o ut to shorten the figure, and it is represented as in a section of pipe. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Figs. .t and 5 show details of construction.

The device consists of a stem, A, having at each enda whirl of yielding supporting-arms, B,and,arranged intermediately between these supports, one or more whirls of yielding scrapers, C', and a whirl of yielding pivoted and overlapping plates, D', which form alisk to receive the action of the moving uid and propel the device.

The arrangement of the parts in relation to each other upon the stem, as above stated, may be varied, as it is not at all essential. Y

As the pipe ofwhich conduits are made may be indented, as shown at p2 in Fig. 2, or may have to be tapped to draw 0H accumulations of foreign fluids and spiked to close the tapopening, as shown at p and p in said figure, and as the couplings and the branch connections and cut-off valves also form unevenness in the inner walls of the pipe, it is obvious that for a scraping device to pass freely along I in the conduit it niust have all its parts which come in contact with the walls capable of yielding,so as to slip over obstructions. This I have fullyprovided for to such au extent that my device can be compressed so as to pass through a considerably smaller oritice than the main pipe-such, for example, as a gatevalve.

The constructionof my device is as follows: The stem A is a rod of iron or steel of, say, three-fourths of an inch diameter. At each end of this is a head, B, with ears, between which are pivoted the arms B.y I show the rear head, B, swiveled on the stem A-a feature which may be followed or not, as desired. Atthe ends of the arms I prefer to put spurred wheels b; but this is not essential. The object of spurring the wheels is to prevent them standing still and sliding along the pipe. The spurs catch on the pipe at the joints and rotate the wheels. These arms are kept extended by springs b', which allow them to yield freely if the arms strike an unyielding obstruction in the pipe. I have shown four of these arms in each head. More or less maybe used,if desired.

The Scrapers C are pivoted in heads C in a similar manner to the arms, as above described, and are kept extended by springs c, which allow them to yield to pass obstructions. There may be as many Scrapers in each whirl and as many whirls on the stem as desired. The scraper-blades are curved so as to lie on the wall of the pipe spirally. This form is given to the scraper-blades, so that if they catch on a spike or otherl projection they will slip off by giving the device a rotary action. The device moves with the iiuid inthe conduit by reason of its action upon the propelling-disk. It would be impractical to use a rigid disk of sufficient size to till the bore of the pipe, and it is desirable that the disk be as large as possible, so, while the device might be propelled by a small rigid disk, I have, for the reasons stated, provided ayieldingdisk, which will fill the bore of the conduit. The construction of this disk is as follows: In the head D are pivoted in a whirl a series of ICO arms, d2, which are in the form of a right-angie lever. A spring, el, bears upon the short arm of the lever and keeps the long arm extended. On each of the arms are pivoted gates or plates D', which are in general form that of a sector curved or arched slightly, and they are of sufiicient width to lap, as clearly Seen in Fig. l. rIlhey are kept up against each other by a contained spring, d, seen clearly in Fig. 4,) and of course the pressure of the fluid upon them will also keep theni closed. It will be seen that these gates can have two movements-one upon their own pivot on the bar cl2 and the other upon the pivot (Pof thebar. Thepurpose of these two movements is clearly shown in Fig. 2, where on the left they are seen as moved on the pivot d4, so as to pass the indentation p2, and on the right one is shown as turning on its own pivot,so as to pass the spike p. Ear-h plate or gate has its outer edge faced with ahard-steel i'acing,d, for the purpose of preventing the edge being worn away by its action on the conduit-walls.

By reference to 3 it will be seen that the scraper-blades stand out beyond the disk, and it should be stated that this is only the case when the device is not confined in the pipe.

The device can be used to serve its purpose very well without the scraper-blades, as the disk-plates will act as scraper-s; or the supporting-arms may be omitted and not destroy the usefulness ot' the device, and the propeller-disk here shown may be used to propel a cleaner of different construction otherwise.

What I claim as new isl. In a pipe-line cleaner, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a central stem, one or more Whirls of yieldingsupports, one or more whirls of yielding scraper-blades, and a whirl of yielding horizontally-pivoted plates forming a propelling-disk.

2. In a pipeline cleaner,vthe combination, substantially as set forth, of a central stein, one or more whirls of yielding supports having spurred wheels pivoted at their bearing ends, one or more Whirls of curved and yielding scraper-blades, and a Whirl ol` yielding horizontally-pivoted plates forming a propeller-disk.

3. In a pipe-line cleaner, the combination, substantially/ as set forth, of a central stem, one or more whirls of yielding supports, and a whirl of yielding horizontally-pivoted plates forming a propeller-disk.

4. In a pipe-line cleaner, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a central stein, one or more whirls of yielding` scraper-blades, and a whirl of yielding horizontally-pivoted plates forming a propeller-disk.

5. In a pipe-line cleaner, a propeller-disk consisting ofthe combination, sul'istantially as set forth, ofthe head D, the whirl of yielding arms d, and the plates D', horizontally pivoted on said arms, and arranged as shown,`

to forni a disk.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN S. KLEIN. Vitnesses:

J No. K. HALLooK, Ronin. H. PORTER.

Correction in Letters Patent No. 332,910.'

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 332,9l0, granted December 22, 1885, i.

upon the application of John S. Klein, of Oil City, Pennsylvania, for an improvement in Pipe-Line Cleaners, errors appear. in the printed specification requiring correction `as follows: rEhe Word Whir1,and its plural, Whirls, were improperly used by theprinter insteadof whorl and whorls to designate certain parts of thel invention; and that theLetters Patent should be read with the Word whml substituted for Whirl, and the word whorls for Whirls, wherever these Words occur in the specification and claims, that the same may conform to the original papers of the case in the Batent Office.

Signed, countersi-gned, and sealed this 16th day of March, A. D. 1886.

H. L. MULDROW, Acting Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Countersigned M. V. MONTGOMERY,

Commissioner of Patents. 

